Roadside bear hunting to continue: Yukon government

The Yukon government won't ban roadside bear hunting in southwest Yukon after hearing from Yukoners on the issue.

Environment minister Wade Istchenko says he heard significant feedback on the issue from First Nations and the public before making his decision.

"After careful consideration, we are accepting the Yukon Fish and Wildlife Management Board's recommendation to continue to allow roadside hunting," he is quoted as saying in a press release. 

Istchenko says the issue will be revisited at some point in the future.

"I don't think that's hunting," says local resident

Many people living in the area of Tagish had pushed for a ban. 

Some bears that had become familiar in the area and a welcome sight along the road were shot by hunters over a period of several years.

Ken Gabb, who lives on the Atlin Road, doesn't agree with roadside bear hunting.

He says about six years ago a bear that was chasing geese around his yard one day was shot dead the next day in the ditch near his home.

"To say I'm disappointed is an understatement, because I really have difficulty with this issue. The animals are magnificent beasts and because they happen to stumble into a highway corridor they're fodder for anybody that happens to have a license and a firearm," he says. 

His campaign to ban roadside bear hunting then picked up steam two years ago when a well-known bear in the Tagish area was shot from the road.

Gabb is angry the government has backed away from a ban.

"I don't really believe that people driving down the road shooting animals that are foraging in the ditch, I don't think that's hunting, but I could be wrong," he says.

The government says it will support a recommendation to develop a territory-wide grizzly bear management plan and more public education.

According to the government one or two bears are shot along the roadside each year in the Southern Lakes region.